Free Republic

In the wake of the massive raid at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, politicians and pundits are hectoring Americans to blindly trust the FBI. “The men and women of the FBI,” Attorney General Merrick Garland proclaimed, “are dedicated, patriotic public servants.” But the FBI would be more credible if it didn’t claim a right to secretly wield almost unlimited power. Most Americans (53%) view the FBI as “Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo,” a recent Rasmussen poll found. FBI actions 30 years ago at Ruby Ridge help explain the G-men’s fall from grace. Randy Weaver and his family lived in an isolated cabin...

That 1992 event should have taught Americans that the government was out of control, but it didn’t, and we continue to live with the consequences. For those too young to remember, it was thirty years ago this month that the DOJ entrapped Randy Weaver for his Christian beliefs, issued a death warrant, killed his dog, son, and wife, and shot Weaver and his friend. Surely, the DOJ doesn’t just execute innocent people. Yet, as we learned at trial: He had no propensity to commit crimes. Never even had a traffic ticket. Never been charged with a crime of any kind...

<p>RANDY Weaver, the survivalist known for his role in the Ruby Ridge standoff with the FBI, has died at the age of 74.</p><p>His daughter Sara confirmed the news on Facebook on Thursday.</p><p>Weaver's wife Vicki and 14-year-old son Samuel were killed by an FBI sniper during an 11-day standoff in the mountains of Idaho in 1992.</p>

The Siege at Ruby Ridge is often considered a pivotal date in American history. The shootout between Randy Weaver and his family and federal agents on August 21, 1992, is one that kicked off the Constitutional Militia Movement and left America with a deep distrust of its leadership – in particular then-President George H.W. Bush and eventual President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno. The short version is this: Randy Weaver and his wife Vicki moved with their four kids to the Idaho Panhandle, near the Canadian border, to escape what they thought was an increasingly corrupt world. The...

ATLANTA - Richard Jewell, the former security guard who was erroneously linked to the 1996 Olympic bombing, died Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. Jewell, 44, was found dead in his west Georgia home, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.

The shootout between Randy Weaver and his family and federal agents on August 21, 1992 is often considered a pivotal date in American history. The short version is this: Randy Weaver and his wife Vicki moved with their four kids to the Idaho Panhandle, near the Canadian border, to escape what they thought was an increasingly corrupt world. The Weavers held racial separatist beliefs, but were not involved in any violent activity or rhetoric. They were peaceful Christians who simply wanted to be left alone. Specifically for his beliefs, Randy Weaver was targeted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and...

Well, we did it. We took my Spanish 12ga shotgun with the 27.5" barrel and cut it off. Now, it has a 19" barrel and the end has been filed and finished and it is ready to go. The intended purpose is for home defense, or in a still rare case, if some group of people are causing a problem/rioting out in society as a secondary weapon. In some literary circles, such is called a "Coach Gun". It appears some characters in history over 100 years ago determined that a cut down shotgun would be an effective weapon a close...

"I knew the Bundy's was right and the feds were wrong which is pretty easy cause most times they are....." Randy Weaver of "Ruby Ridge" speaks out about the Bundy's and their federal court ordeal First off in case you missed it, we had some link problems on an update posted Sunday regarding the lawsuit by members of LaVpy Finicum's family over his murder on January 26, 2016 and Jason Patrick's upcoming sentencing. In fact, the ability to link directly to the post was somehow disabled. Link........ Randy Weaver of the 1990's "Ruby Ridge" incident appeared in recent video with...

Randall and Vicki Weaver and their children wanted nothing more than to be left to live an isolated life in peace in their cabin enclave on a northern Idaho mountain top called Ruby Ridge. Untrusting of the federal government and of the belief society had taken an insurmountable turn for the worse, the Weavers — as many residents in the remote and breathtaking area — taught their children to be self-sufficient and defend themselves with firearms from unwanted intrusions onto the family’s property. But the Weaver’s seemingly idyllic life came to an appallingly violent end over several hours from August...

“Ruby Ridge” used to refer to a geographical location in the state of Idaho, but after an incident that took place there 10 years ago on Aug. 21, the phrase has come to refer to a scandalous series of events that opened the eyes of many people to the inner workings of the federal government, including the vaunted Federal Bureau of Investigation. Now that 10 years have passed, the feds will accelerate their ongoing effort to “move forward” and have the scandal declared “ancient history.” But the Ruby Ridge episode should not be soon forgotten.On August 21, 1992 a paramilitary...

H.S. Precision, Inc. Lon Horiuchi was one of several snipers in a hide located at the back the Branch Davidian complex at Mount Carmel, Waco, Texas. Mr. Horiuchi was also in service at Ruby Ridge, where he shot Randy Weaver's wife in the head, killing her, as she held her baby. Lon Horiuchi retired from the FBI in October of 2006 and was hired as "FBI Program Manager & COTR" at H.S. Precision, Inc., of Rapid City, South Dakota. This company makes high-quality fiberglass stocks, barrels, finished rifles, gunsmithing tools, and hunting apparel. Their website is http://www.hsprecision.com and their telephone...

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — When Sara Weaver saw her father Randy struck in the shoulder by a government sniper's bullet in the Idaho wilderness in August 1992, she began to sprint back to the family's cabin on a mountaintop called Ruby Ridge. As the 16-year-old closed in, her mother, Vicki, opened the cabin door and stood behind it, holding Sara Weaver's 10-month-old sister in her arms. Just then, a sniper's bullet struck her mother in the head, killing her.

Penn State University's board of trustees tapped former FBI director Louis Freeh Monday to help lead an investigation into the child sexual abuse scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. "The entire Board of Trustees is intent on taking all steps necessary to ensure that our institution never again has to ask whether it did the right thing, or whether or not it could have done more," said trustee Ken Frazier, chairman of the special committee. "We are committed to leaving no stone unturned to get to the bottom of what happened, who knew what when, and what changes we...

THE RANDY WEAVER CASE BY JIM OLIVER Another Federal Fiasco! BATF's entrapment of Randy Weaver led to the violent deaths of three people. Says his defense attorney, Gerry Spence: "What happened to Randy Weaver can happen to anybody in this country." Seeing his dog, Striker, shot to death by masked intruders clad in camouflage, Sammy Weaver, 14, fired back in fear for his life. The 4 ft., 11" tall youngster was hit in the arm, then shot in the back as he turned to run for home. He died instantly, killed by an agent of the federal government. Cradling her...

How government agents set Randy Weaver up and took his family down Perhaps it was inevitable that the longest federal trial in Idaho history would be followed by the longest jury deliberation in such a trial–a 20-daymarathon that had news people joking about whether the jury planned to put in for retirement benefits. The eight-week trial of Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris grew out of such a bizarre set of circumstances that it’s not surprising it took a while for the jurors to sort things out. It probably also took them a while to come to grips with the idea...

EVIDENCE FROM INVESTIGATION OF 1992 RUBY RIDGE MATTER ONLY SUFFICIENT TO CHARGE ONE OFFICIAL WITH CRIMINAL CONDUCT Disciplinary Penalties Being Weighed for Others WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After an exhaustive investigation involving hundreds of interviews and the review of hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, the Justice Department announced today that the available evidence does not support further criminal prosecutions of FBI officials arising from the August 1992 incidents, at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and their aftermath. In October 1996, E. Michael Kahoe, Chief of the FBI's Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section, was charged with, and later pleaded guilty to,...

Good evening, Freepers. I just watched a documentary on the Ruby Ridge/Randy Weaver fiasco with my family. I'd like to get some recommendations from you folks on some other good documentary films about it. My kids are too young to remember any of this (or actually even be AROUND for it) and I want to put some of this kind of stuff in perspective for them. A year or so ago, we did the whole Waco/Rules of Engagement route to try to get our arms around that whole thing. And then when we watched this little hour-long thing about Ruby...

WASHINGTON – Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Executive Director Josh Horwitz today accused a pair of Texas lawmakers of “playing cheap political games” with the District of Columbia’s gun laws at the expense of democracy in the nation’s capital. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, both Texas Republicans, held a news conference to announce the introduction of the District of Columbia Personal Protection Act of 2005, which would repeal the city’s gun laws, in the Senate. “The citizens of the District of Columbia should have the power to decide by democratic means whether and how firearms will be regulated...

NAPLES, Idaho - Just the crude foundation remains. The sun-bleached plywood floor outlines the mountain cabin that long ago collapsed under the strain of North Idaho winters. Gone is the door through which FBI sharpshooter Lon Horiuchi fatally shot Vicki Weaver and injured family friend Kevin Harris. Gone is the shed where 14-year-old Sammy Weaver was laid to rest after being shot in the back by a U.S. marshal. Gone, too, are the signs of the foot-chase-turned-shootout between Sammy, Harris and federal agents that left Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan dead. No monument rests on this rocky outcropping of Ruby...